Flu threats bubble in tropics

Friday March 5th, 2010

Recorded deaths from swine flu in England have increased substantially in the last fortnight - while bird flu is resurfacing in some parts of the world, it was announced yesterday.

The total jumped by 23, largely because several deaths over the winter were confirmed as having been from the H1N1 virus.

British officials said vaccination programmes are continuing - although the number of cases of swine flu are now minimal. The latest reports from GPs suggest fewer than 5,000 cases in the last week.

And they warned that swine flu was likely to remain the dominant form of disease next winter.

The World Health Organisation has warned it is too early to say the pandemic is over - as the disease is still spreading in some countries, especially in south-east Asia.

But it has also reported a new threat from outbreaks of bird flu, the lethal H5N1 virus.

WHO said there had been fresh outbreaks in Vietnam and Egypt. There has been one recent death in Vietnam - but cases are thought to have arisen from contact with infected birds.

So far 30 out of 104 patients in Egypt have died from infection with bird flu over a period of just over a year.

British chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson urged people to continue to get swine flu vaccination.

He said: "Vaccination continues to be freely available to all those in designated risk groups and to children aged six months to under five years. It is the best way to reduce the risks of serious complications of pandemic flu in the future."

Tags: Africa | Asia | Flu & Viruses | Respiratory | UK News | World Health

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